Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Pastor tells of son’s miraculous rescue from avalanche
By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
(ANS) – He felt a tad uneasy when he learned his two sons planned to take their Ford Raptor to the top of Polecat Bench and snowboard off the top.
Polecat Bench, Wyoming
“It’s not a place where most people go snowboarding,” says Pastor Mike Walsh, senior pastor at Glad Tidings Church in Powell, Wyoming.
Because he didn’t want to be an overbearing parent, and his sons are “tough Wyoming boys who like to hunt and fish,” he backed off. He wanted them to have a day of adventure.
Son Michael, 19, works in the North Dakota oil fields on rigs that send him 125 feet into the air, sometimes in weather that dives far below freezing. Michael was home for a few days with family, and looked forward to hanging out with his younger brother, Matt, 17, his best friend. Matt is a junior at Powell High School.
Saturday, February 8th was picture-perfect, with 10-foot drifts of fluffy-looking snow scattered across The Bench. It was snow that seemed to have been there for months, with little risk of avalanche.
Normally, they would snowboard off the top together. But on this day, younger brother Matt was ready to go first and spun off the top, hurtling down the 60 degree incline, as Michael stood at the edge, preparing his gear.
“All of a sudden Michael saw the whole mountain go off. It went pop, pop, pop, pop across the top,” Pastor Mike recounts. Michael had to flip his body backward to avoid being swept over the edge himself.
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Mark Ellis is a senior correspondent for ASSIST News Service and the founder of www.Godreports.com. He is available to speak to groups about the plight of the church in restricted countries, to share stories and testimonies from the mission field, and to preach the gospel.
mark@Godreports.com
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<!–BYLINE:By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service–>